first loss !!!

[Therasoid]

Persistence will prevail! Fingers crossed that this ends your fight. Best of luck!

 

[spidey noob]

@Therasoid
thanks (im hopeing Persistence will prevail in the end !!!) but i dont think the end is in sight just yet this could go on for months yet from what iv read & been told the guy at the rep shop where i get my feeders from also keps Ts & had 90 Ts but had a mite problem, he battled them for 6 months before he got rid of them & lost most of his Ts. (only 29 left)

im not looking foward to check & remove any mites from 4 E,murinus. (got a horrible feeling i may get tagged )

 

[Therasoid]

@Therasoid
thanks (im hopeing Persistence will prevail in the end !!!) but i dont think the end is in sight just yet this could go on for months yet from what iv read & been told the guy at the rep shop where i get my feeders from also keps Ts & had 90 Ts but had a mite problem, he battled them for 6 months before he got rid of them & lost most of his Ts. (only 29 left)

im not looking foward to check & remove any mites from 4 E,murinus. (got a horrible feeling i may get tagged )

I know how much you care about your Ts and their well being. You will succeed and hopefully in short order too. [emoji5]
I can't imagine losing 2/3 of my Ts, due to an infestation, I would be devastated to say the least. [emoji22]

 

[spidey noob]

@Therasoid
i was gutted

i only got 4 Ts done today thanks to spending 2 1/2 hr on 1 avic avic (just keept running around the tub constantly !!!)

 

[Therasoid]

@Therasoid
i was gutted

i only got 4 Ts done today thanks to spending 2 1/2 hr on 1 avic avic (just keept running around the tub constantly !!!)

Hang in there I'm pulling for you. [emoji3]
You have to be quicker with the catch cup, especially with skittish arboreals. Lmao!! [emoji6] [emoji33]

I never have understood why so many people do transfers in the bathroom. Plugging the drains, spigots, tub vent, towels under the door. Just too much of a hassle, time consuming and a large area for escapees to run around. I pull an old 55 gl. aquarium out of the corner and get the job done without all the work. Fast and easy for me at least. Besides, my T room is in the basement and bathrooms are upstairs. [emoji6]

 

[Chubbs]

@Therasoid
i was gutted

i only got 4 Ts done today thanks to spending 2 1/2 hr on 1 avic avic (just keept running around the tub constantly !!!)

With all due respect, if dealing with an Avic is that difficult for you, then I'd advise against getting any more arboreals, as pretty much all of them are much faster than Avics [emoji14]

 

[spidey noob]

@Therasoid
i normaly just put the Ts enclosures on the floor !!! bar the E,murinus witch i use an 80lt plastic tub as they keep bolting out at me LoL.

@Chubbs
i have no probs dealing with the avics in general
but i had this one in here (pic below) as i was checking it for mites !!! but as soon as i touched the tub with the brush it kept running round & round, just wouldnt stop !!! so it was hard to see if there was anything on it


update !!!
i have now checked all Ts & enclosures & i only found one mite. (it was on a E,murinus)
but i keep finding these on the side of the avic enclosures (pic below) i need to ideantify them asap ??? (there coverd in a clear liquid &they apear every two days !!!


p.s i have found one of the new avics on its back totaly stuck in its moult, think it has passed away it hasent even got the back of the carapis off poor soul.

 

[spidey noob]

im getting some where now
thanks to the guy at the rep shop i have managed to get in touch with a local man (profesor) who studys arachnology / acarology !!! iv had a phone call conversation with him to day & he is willing to come & help me find out whats going on for a small fee £60.
i have explaind whats happend so far & he thinks the reasone im haveing problems is due to the hummidty in the vivs caused by them being a semi closed unit. (basicaly when the water rises from the enclosures its traped in the vivs thus creating an ideal hummidty level for mites to thrive in the whole unit ) he sujested i remove the glass panels & replace them with acrylic & drill plenty of ventolation holes in them.

P.S i will keep u all updated

 

[Enn49]

Fingers crossed he can help. I'll be honest it got me worried as I keep some of my containers in wooden vivariums but they do have air vents back and front plus a gap between the doors which are opened every day for a few minutes at a time.

 

[spidey noob]

@enn
he should be able to help !!! (acarology is the study of mites/ticks ect)
try not to worry abought it to much !!! mites are presant in all enclosures & in small number there harmless, its just an explosion of them that cause problems.
there is a couple of things i would like to point out to u though !!!
1, it dosent mater weather your Ts are in a viv / rack / full room set up if u have a might explosion u will have problems regard less !!!
(if u have a mite explotion in a viv there containd to some degree & its not hard to clean them out due to there small size, but i u have a whole T room u have a larger area to worry abought & clean)
2, mites are on nearly every feeder u have or will ever feed your Ts, (there is nothing u can do abought it !!!)
3, all T keepers will encounter them at some point. (to some degree)
4, i now see the mite problem im haveing as a learing curve, it is a nunance but im slowly getting on top of it !!! (hope fully if i encounter them again i will be better prepared for them)

 

[Enn49]

Thanks spidey. It's good to know that I can stop worrying but I will be keeping a close eye on my lot from now on.

 

[spidey noob]

UPDATE !!!
the guy come this morning !!! wow i felt really stupit talking to him didnt even understand what he was saying LoL.
i explaind what has been happening so far & showed him the picks i have of the mites ect, i seem to have the anawers iv been looking for but its not what i thought it was !!!
i do have a small quantity of mites in the top enclosure but its no where near the amount thats harmfull to Ts (just need to keep on top of them)
but from what i have told him he dosent think any of the Ts iv lost is due to mites !!! he thinks the losses were down to not keeping the conditions stable enough (thats why i lost so many avics & not other species) so thats a bit of a bummer !!!
he also explained the even 1/2 degrees diffrence in the hummidty was enought to kill avics & i need to be more accurate with them, he sujested i get one of those digital hummidty gages (not just guess what the hummidty it is)

as for the mites !!!
i showed him the pics of the mites (i have a couple of pics i havnt posted for u all yet) basically he couldnt id the spices with out putting them under a microscope, but what i have been seeing is the second stage of the mite life cycle
1, eggs (usaly appear as a clear liquid)
2, larva, (white things in the pick above)
3, mites ect
he also explaind the only way to get rid of them is manual extraction (for the Ts) & steraliseing the enclosures, he said the easist things to use is bleach/milton & steep them for 24hr then rince througly & use fresh substrate/decore, but i will get rid of them eventualy as long as i keep on top of them.

P.S he has gave me some info abought an organisation that does spider work shops that im going to attend in the new year, there basicaly
arachnology seminars / work shops, he claims these wiil be a great help to me & they start at a beginer level.

 

[Enn49]

@spidey noob That makes very interesting reading especially his comments about the mites. I'm sorry that your losses appear to be caused by incorrect humidity which has set me worrying about my little Avic. I have just been looking on Ebay and thought this may solve at least my problem as the outdoor sensor appears to be small enough to go in its deli http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-H...Guage-Meter-/252049648392?hash=item3aaf546b08

 

[spidey noob]

@enn
he explaind it a bit better than me LoL !!! (it should of read)
1, eggs (apear as clear liquid)
2, larva (white thing in pic above)
3, nymph (apear fully formed but only just visable to naked eye)
4, adult (fully formed & clearly visable)
the first two stages are not a threat to the Ts directly in there current form untill they reach stages 3/4.


P.S sorry abought the poor explation all, i was in a hurry just got back from training & only 15 min untill i had to leave for work,
so it was a rush job !!! (my bad)

 

[MassExodus]

@Fuzzball79
i was up till 5am this morning cleaning & rehouseing the avics, going to start the terrestrials soon.

@Enn49
i will do !!!

just to let u no where im up to !!!
there was a couple of tiny mites walking around on the in side of the avic tubs !!! but only the ones with the bark in it, no sign of mites in the ones with the fake leafs.
i scarled the top viv & i have totaly re done all avic enclosures.
i boil washed the tubs & microwaved then for 2 min each then put new substrate & decore, i checked all avics throughly & i cant see any mites on them.
im going to do the same with the bottom viv today. (all tubs & Ts !!!)

P.s im never feeding crickets again !!!

I'm sorry to hear of your trouble..that truly sucks. I've been keeping avics for 4 years, slings to adults, I've got six, 3 versi and 3 A avics. I've never had any trouble with them at all. Might I suggest using superworms or dubia nymphs? I use dubia and supers religiously, mine only get crickets about once every 4 or 5 months, when I feel the need to give them some variety, and it's not really even necessary. I buy enough for everyone and feed them off in an hour or so, leaving none left, and remove any that are still around the next day. I really don't believe the common consensus that crickets are more nutritional then dubia. My slings go from superworms cut in half to whole superworms to dubia nymphs. It works and it's easy. They do well on this diet. If you're shying away from having a dubia colony, I would suggest looking at that option again, they are in my opinion the perfect feeder. One other thing : You cannot have too much ventilation, especially for Avics, or for any species of tarantula, even the more humidity dependent ones. It will curtail many problems that people run into in this hobby. By the way, you may have been in the hobby much longer then me and if so, no offense was meant, nor was I trying to be condescending or preach, I'm just offering up what knowledge I've gained through my own observations. I got most of my Avic care tips from Sturmy76 on youtube years ago. He's a smart guy, and his Avic care tips can be taken as gospel, in my opinion. Hope this helped

 

[spidey noob]

@MassExodus
i use crickets / locusts / dubia roaches / meal worms / morio worms, i try to mix it up as mutch as possible !!!
week 1, cricket / locust
week 2, meal / morio
week 3, cricket / locust
week 4, dubia (then repeat 1/2/3/4 again in a cycle !!!)
i belive feeders fall into two catogerys staple (crickets/locusts) & treats (worms/roaches)
as for crickets are more nutritional than roaches, (thats just tottal b****ks) roaches have 3x the nutritional value of crickets, but thats the problem with them !!! ( just to rich to use as a staple) a staple feeder should have enought nutritional vale to keep your Ts healthy but not be to rich as it could make them unhealthy.
i did have a 200+ b,dubia colleny but they had mights on them so i culled them, (i have 45 adult dubia orderd at presant they should be here on wedensday. (so i can get a new collny going)

P.S i have only be in the hobby for 14 months so not as long as u !!! & i didnt think u were condescending or preaching just trying to help & for that i am thank full i also dont mean to be condescending or preach. this is just how i belive it should be done, but i do no there is more that one way to skinn a cat. (so to speak)

now for an update !!!
i have been might free for 21 days now !!! (no more losses) i also have two new Pelinobius muticus (king baboon) slings 2cm/3cm

P.S i have lost my pics due to problems with the server i use to store them.

 

[Chubbs]

Roaches are used as a staple along with crickets in many parts of the world, although they are illegal in certain places such as Canada and Florida. Worms are considered more of a treat. Locusts are only used in Europe as far as I know. They are illegal in the U.S. although I don't know about Canada.

 

[spidey noob]

@Chubbs
A lot of people do use roaches as staple but that dosent mean they are Wright to do so, they are exallent feeders but they are to rich to feed to often, & can lead to health problems in the long run. But this I just
IMO !!!

 

[MassExodus]

@Chubbs
A lot of people do use roaches as staple but that dosent mean they are Wright to do so, they are exallent feeders but they are to rich to feed to often, & can lead to health problems in the long run. But this I just
IMO !!!

Hmm, so perhaps my superworm to dubia ratio is...perfect? Lol, j/k..

 

[spidey noob]

its a personal choice what u feed your Ts !!! but i like to feed whats best for them (NOT !!! whats the most convient for me)